


The Amulets

by Keolah



Category: Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis, My Little Pony, Secret of the Unicorn Queen - Josepha Sherman, The World of David the Gnome
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Dimension Travel, Dragons, Gen, Magical Artifacts, Multiple Crossovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1990-06-01
Updated: 1990-08-01
Packaged: 2017-11-14 20:16:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/519123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Keolah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A human girl named Charlotte inadvertently winds up in the fantasy world of Pheldarnia, which is populated by David the Gnome, talking animals, dragons, and brightly colored ponies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Amulets

Charlotte Jean Arnold rode her beautiful dapple grey mare, Beth, at a slow walk. The lush meadow that they were riding through was filled with dainty spring wildflowers and grasses. Charlotte's brand-new gold-plated watch glittered on her right wrist. The coming of spring gave both Beth and Charlotte a chance to stretch their legs. 

When they reached the forest, Beth quickened her pace. Radiant oaks shaded their way to the picnic clearing. Many cool birch trees surrounded the dirt path. A row of pines dotted the distant horizon. 

The picnic clearing was a beautiful place, yet few knew about it. Charlotte dismounted and removed her sandwich and thermos from the saddlebags. Then she removed the saddle and bridle. Beth started grazing at the rich grass while Charlotte sat on it and ate her sandwich. Mm. It was peanut butter and jelly, her favorite. 

Just then, Charlotte heard an explosion. And apparently Beth did too, for she ran away. It was a gunshot. But it wasn't hunting season. Someone around here was hunting out of season, and scaring away her horse. 

Quickly, a man with a gun, whom she recognized as Jeff Stanley, raced into the clearing, and stopped to look around. 

"Where is he?" said Jeff Stanley's harsh voice. 

"Where is who?" asked a confused Charlotte. 

"The deer who was grazin' here, that's who." 

"I beg your pardon, but that was my horse." 

"Horse? He ain't lookin' like no horse I ever seen." 

"Deer," she murmured. "I've been here all afternoon and no deer have shown up." 

Jeff Stanley, forlorn and disgruntled, straitened his cap and left. 

What am I going to do? How am I going to get home? Will I be able to find her? thought Charlotte. 

Charlotte gathered up her things into her light backpack. She had to leave the heavy saddle, though she took the bridle. 

"Follow me," said a tiny voice from below her. 

"Who?" asked Charlotte 

"Down here," said the voice. She looked down to see an little gnome there, less than a foot tall. "Put me on your shoulder," said the gnome. She did so. "I'm David. You're Charlotte," he said. 

"Where are you taking me?" asked Charlotte. 

"Well, really I'm not taking you anywhere," said David. 

"Where are we going to, I mean." 

"Pheldarnia. Home. My home." 

The gnome directed Charlotte into a door that was placed mysteriously in a tree. Once inside the door, Charlotte saw a huge castle, and guards running toward her. She turned to dart back into the tree, but it was gone. Only an ordinary tree remained. 

"David, help," she said. But the gnome was gone. Charlotte did the only thing she could do: let the guards catch her.

Charlotte was in a cold, damp dungeon. She sneezed. She was allergic to mildew. "Don't sneeze so hard!" cried David. 

"David! How did you get here?" 

"I've been here all along, only I became invisible when I saw the guards," he explained, "This was completely unplanned for." 

"I sure hope so. How do we get out?" 

"For me, it's easy," explained the gnome, "For you, it's a lot harder. I could go get some help from a friend of mine. Her name is Gaia and she's the spirit of the world. I bet she could give me an acid potion to melt these bars. I'll be back with the acid," He disappeared again. 

The invisible gnome climbed out the window. He used his magic to teleport himself to Gaia's house. She was kneeling there with a worried look on her face. David told her about Charlotte. Gaia told him about a curse put on her by the evil wizard Tericolle. She said that only Charlotte knew how to render the power of the Amulets to the side of good. 

Within minutes, David was opaque again at the cell, lacking the acid potion from Gaia. 

"Major difficulty with Gaia. She's been cursed terribly. The only things that can save her are the Amulets of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. You must get them to her within one week or she'll just die!" 

"But where would we start?" said Charlotte. 

"I don't know and I don't care, you're the one she assigned this project to, not me. I'm only here to make sure you do your job. But first I suggest that you should get out of here." 

Just then, two guards with spears came and told her to come with them. She did, at first. They went up a spiral staircase that lead up to the main level. Then they came to an intersection. She was supposed to go strait, but she turned sharply left. 

Oh, good, a ladder, just what I need. If I climb that and run out onto the rafter, maybe they won't come after me, she thought. 

Charlotte scampered up the ladder in no time at all. There were two sets of rafters on this high ceiling, and a long, fatal way from the first one to the ground. There were carpenter ants on the first one, and it seemed unstable. But nevertheless, Charlotte ran out onto it, soon followed by a guard. It was a short distance, no more than six feet, from the first rafter to the second. Charlotte leaped up and grabbed it with her hands, and just in time, too. The guard who had ventured out on the rafter had not discovered the carpenter ants, and fell fifteen feet to the ground. 

"Quick thinking, Charlotte. Now, how are you going to get down?" asked David. 

"I'm not. I'm going out that window," Charlotte climbed onto the rafter. Good, no carpenter ants. Then she opened the window. It lead into a very large room with an even higher ceiling. There was one rafter below her, and two above. Four rafter sets in all. There were several guards, knights, soldiers, and such. In front of them was a man in a crimson and violet outfit. He was talking to the rest on a podium. 

"That's the evil Prince Darven. The knight he's talking to is Sir Alyxen," explained David. 

Charlotte crawled through the open window onto the beam. She was getting awfully good at walking on rafters. There was a narrow window ledge along the side of the wall between the rafters. Charlotte carefully walked out along the ledge, keeping her step. In the middle of the ledge was a hideous gargoyle. She stepped over it with care, wrinkling her nose at it's ugly face. 

When she climbed down a short ladder and walked into the center of a rafter, Charlotte was directly above Prince Darven. He was speaking of her. 

"We have just been informed that the fugitive has fiendishly escaped. She has outwitted our guards and killed Larynx. She is in search of the Amulets. We have the Amulet of Air in my treasure room. We must find the other three before she does. But we have one thing she doesn't have." 

"No brains?" said a fat guy in the first row. 

"No, peabrain, she doesn't know where our Amulet is!" 

"Oh." 

_Now I do. Those nutty guys never knew I was up here._

Charlotte went back to the window ledge. This time, she accidently stepped on the ugly gargoyle. That hideous thing sprang out, opening a trapdoor. She flew feet first into something that was like a laundry chute. The legs of her jeans were torn a little before it got smooth. The slide ended with a jarring bump down at the dungeon level. But there were no guards. She was vaguely mindful of tiny hands gripping onto her hair. Without thinking, she sneezed because of mildew. 

"Hey, not so loud!" 

"David!" 

"Shh! The guards might hear us." 

"What guards?" 

"Those guards sleeping over there by those gigantic barrels." Anything bigger than a mouse was big to David. 

"If they hear us, they won't notice. They're drunk. This is the wine cellar. Let's get out of here." 

"Well, at least we know where the Amulet is. But where is that?" 

"How should I know?" 

"The treasure room...I think it's on the second story of the east tower, but I'm not sure." Charlotte was absent-mindedly walking into a room. When she became aware of her surroundings, she was startled. It was a weaponry. 

"I suggest that you take some. It always helps to be armed, even though you might not need them." Charlotte took a quiver from the rack and placed it over her shoulders. Then she took a dagger and scabbard and concealed them in her belt. 

"Good. Those might work if you had a bow," Charlotte looked red-faced when she took the bow. 

The next room they went into was an armory. Charlotte admired the huge, shiny armor with intricate seals on them. Beautiful shields with the dragon of Pheldarnia painted and carved into them. Helmets with stunning plumes stood out among other armor. One stood out most. The crossed swords of Sir Alyxen with it's large red, yellow, and blue plumage. 

When Charlotte went out the north entrance of the Armory, the least thing she expected to see was a guard. He was unarmed and was going for his weapons and armor in the adjoining rooms. When he saw Charlotte's bow and quiver, he turned and ran, screaming like a fool. 

"Coward," scoffed Charlotte. 

"He's probably going around to the back entrance through the wine cellar. We had better find that treasury before he gets back."

* * *

**Part II: Treasury and Trouble**

And so they ventured east in the castle without running into any guards. Charlotte passed beautiful banquet halls with crimson curtains and lace tablecloths and bouquets of roses red and white, yet wilted. There were lush courtyards with oaks and firs and people strolling along cobblestone pathways. And finally, there was a massive solid oak door with four locks. That had to be the treasure room. 

But the locks were open. Charlotte quietly opened the door along it's well-oiled hinges. There was the mysterious room. The girl and the gnome stared in awe in the dim candlelight. Piles of gold and silver coins cluttered corners of the room. Gems, necklaces, bracelets and rings covered the floor. crowns and tiaras lay in heaps like dirty clothing. In the center of the room was a gigantic pile of coins and treasure. And lay on top of it was the Amulet. 

Just then, they heard the massive oak doors close and lock behind them. A muffled voice said, "If she wanted to get in there, she is going to stay in there." 

Charlotte swallowed hard. She tried to open the door, but nevertheless, it was locked securely. She tried to use her dagger to pick the lock. It wouldn't even scratch the solid door. 

"The Amulet, Charlotte, use the Amulet!" cried David. 

Charlotte ran to the pile. Coins slipped out of her reach. She slid down the pile when she even tried. She needed footing. Carefully, she put her foot right above a large tiara. It stayed. Then she grabbed a crown with her hand. Her other foot was placed on another crown. With her free hand, she dug into the coins to make the Amulet come toward her. But the landslide made her fall to the ground. She got up and tried again. 

After what seemed like a thousand tries, Charlotte finally retrieved the Amulet. There wasn't much air left in the room. Air! This was the Amulet of Air! How could she have overlooked it. There was a light blue diamond in the center of the Amulet. The source of its power. 

With the aid of the magical Amulet, she created a strong gust of wind, and all at once, slammed it at the heavy door. The hinges gave way before the locks did. The massave door fell to the ground with an ear-splitting crash. 

After the dust was settled, there were guards all around the room. She blew them away with the power of the Amulet. But suddenly, one came from behind her and grabbed her arm. She did the only thing she could do to keep the Amulet from Prince Darven. She threw it out an open window.

And so she was back in the dungeon. They had removed her quiver and taken her bow, but forgot her dagger. She finally got a close look at it. The blade of fine steel. The hilt of bronze. Engraved in the hilt was a crossed swords. But before her very eyes, the crossed swords melted into an even more complicated design of a rearing unicorn. On the other side of it were the intricate letters, "CJA," What did it mean? 

"David, what does this mean?" 

"What?" 

"These letters on this dagger. What do they mean?" 

"I don't know. But that was a pretty smart thing to do, throwing the Amulet out the window like that. It is always best to keep great power from the hands of evil." 

"But where do you suppose it ended up?" 

"We have no time for supposing. We have to escape and find the Amulet before Prince Darven does!" 

"How would we get out?" 

"Be right back," said David. He climbed up the wall and disappeared into the ivy. He came back and said, "There's a large window up there that the guards forgot about. You would have been able to get through, but the ivy is too thick." 

"I would be able to cut it with the dagger!" Charlotte climbed up the wall with much care, using vines and ivy as footholds. She took the blade in her hand, and sliced the vines to bits. She slowly stepped through the window. 

There was an empty courtyard on the other side of the hidden window. It was concealed on all sides by a high wall. In the center was a fountain that was running dry. No life seemed to come here at all. On one wall, there was a sturdy hardwood door. This place was more desolate than the dungeon. 

Partly because it was overcast, and partly because of the already devastating scenery, the finding of a skeleton didn't seen unusual. It seemed to be the bones of a deer, because of the antlers. Large, muddy footprints surrounded the skeleton. They seemed somehow bird-like. Large black feathers also dotted the scene. Charlotte was scared. 

"It would seem to be that a roc has been here," said David. Charlotte nodded, afraid. "It might return," Charlotte fainted.

When Charlotte woke up, she was aware of darkness. David was still awake. 

"There might be a secret panel to get us out, but I was to little to push it." 

"I must have really let you down, David. Being faint like that for hours and hours." 

"It has only been fifteen minutes. It was twilight when you fainted. Here, come look at this." 

Charlotte got up and cut away the ivy in the place David had indicated. By accident, she placed her hand on a stone. It moved. Just slightly, but it did move. Charlotte gave in a hard push. The block pushed through all the way. Below them, a trapdoor opened, and they were shot onto a slippery chute, head first. 

"Not again," cried Charlotte. 

The end of the chute ended with a cartwheel in the air. Charlotte and David landed on a huge pile of straw. They were soon surrounded by dwarf-like creatures with mining tools. Each wore a strange hat and earth tone color clothes. One of them wore a crown on his head. 

"We are the grungelings. I am King Tarvell. Who and what are you?" 

"I'm Charlotte and this is David." 

"She's a human and I'm an gnome." Some of the grungelings made frightened faces until David said, "a good human." 

"We are trying to save the Gaia, the spirit of the world, and the only way to do that is with the power of the four Amulets." 

"Amulets? Well, we just got a delivery that was found at the bottom of the well. You can come look if you'd like." 

They followed King Tarvell into a treasure chamber. Placed on a hook was the powerful Amulet of Air. Charlotte grabbed it and started to leave. 

"Hold on a minute, young lady, where do you think you're going with that?" 

"I need it." 

"You need to pay for it." 

"With what? Diamonds? Gold?" 

"No, no, we have plenty of those. What we want is something that can not be found in Grunga. Go and find something. Take the elevator at the well."

Outside, nothing was going on. Everyone was asleep. On the ground lay a glass jar. Charlotte picked it up. Fireflies filled the air, dancing and prancing all around the sky. Charlotte could watch them for hours. But she couldn't waste any more time in catching them. She was reminded by David that the process of death caused by the curse on Gaia was taking place. And they only knew where to find one of the Amulets. If they wasted any more time, Gaia would die! 

Dawn looked like it would come any minute. But that wasn't odd because it was midsummer here. Now what could she get that cannot be found in Grunga? Living underground as they did, they had mines that could get all the gems and precious metals anyone could ever want. It was something above ground. What could they want that was above ground? The sky, the flowers, the wind... 

"Wait!" shouted Charlotte, surprised by her new idea. "What about wind?" 

"Yes! We could borrow the Amulet for long enough to give them wind! They have never felt the wind in their whole lives, that would certainly be a treasure. Great idea, Charlotte." 

With a bounding leap, Charlotte grabbed David and went down the well. 

"Returned so soon?" 

"May we borrow the Amulet for just one minute --" 

"We want the gift! We want the gift!" shouted the impatient grungelings. 

"--please?" 

"Well...okay, but just one minute." 

"Oh, thank you," Charlotte had no time to lose. She grabbed the Amulet. "Have you ever felt the wind before!" she said loudly because the stone in the Amulet that was just activated created loud gusts of wind. The grungelings gasped, then cheered. But then Charlotte was horrified. A large stone toward one side of the cavern budged, then fell inward into a hole. Bright dawn daylight showed through the gap in the wall. Amazingly, the grungelings cheered even louder, then ran outside to bask in the rich sunlight that they had never seen. 

"I think you need an explanation. 

"You see, long ago, us grungelings were surface-dwelling dwarf-like little men. But when the reign of the Evil Prince Darven began, we were imprisoned underground, doomed to spend the rest of our lives in turmoil without even getting so much as a glint of sunlight. But now that you have used the good powers of the Amulet to move the Stone, even at a time as great as dawn, we would be glad to pay you any price." 

"Well really all I need is the Amulet --" 

"Done. It's yours" 

For a very long time, that was all they heard of the grungelings.

* * *

**Part III: The Ruin**

Charlotte was only then aware that David was nowhere in sight. She hadn't seen him since after she jumped in the well. Maybe she didn't grab him after all. But he was probably invisible, again. That was pretty obvious. 

"Hi. Did you miss me? Well, I just got some important news from a friend of mine called Lanyr. Your horse, Beth, has been sighted in the meadow east of Pheldarnia, no more than a few minutes walk from here--" 

"Beth!" Charlotte jumped up, (and that's pretty hard to do when you're standing) and ran east. She simply ignored David's complaining for her to slow down, and his little fingers in her hair. Within seconds, Charlotte was at Beth's feet--uh--hooves. 

"Oh, Beth, how did you get here?" Charlotte asked. But then Beth did the one thing Charlotte least expected. She answered. 

"I was running away from that Stanley fellow, you know that, and I had been running for what seemed like days when I saw it. It was a large tunnel in the side of a hill. It had started raining and there's probably a thunderstorm right now. I wanted and needed shelter so I went inside, and the next thing I knew, I was here. There's the hill, no tunnel now." 

"You can talk!" 

"I forgot to tell you, Charlotte. Any creature which passes through the portal is gifted with speech. Both that and the ability to understand animals." 

Just then, a deer came galloping from the direction of the east woods. He had a dwarf on his back. 

"No time for greetings. I know of your mission. I also know where to find the Amulet of Water. Follow me." 

Charlotte didn't have time to think. She mounted her dapple gray horse and they galloped off. David was asleep in her hair and almost fell out. 

"By the way," shouted Charlotte, who was helping them run faster with wind, "what's your name?" 

"Me? I'm Tyron. Didn't I tell you?" 

"No." 

"Well, there it is." 

"A ruined tower. It just seems so mysterious." 

"It's not just the tower. It's a whole castle." 

"What was it's name?" 

"It used to be the castle of Pheldarnia. You see, Pheldarnia is the name of this country. The castle south of here is Castle Pheldarnia. Darven is supposed to be the High King, but I think he's lousy." 

"He's trying to do us in." 

"I know." 

"Charlotte, do you think this is really a good idea?" said Beth. 

"Is anything going to happen to us if we don't go in? Besides, you're not going in anyway." 

Beth had been planning to drop out. But it was a completely different matter when she learned she was being left out. She confessed that she really wanted to go in, but Charlotte made it clear that animals would only get in the way. 

Even though the castle had fallen into rubble centuries ago, it was difficult to get in. Large stones and other non-descript objects created steep mountainous walls around what used to be the courtyard. Ivy and moss made the ruin obscure and hard to find. You could walk by and think it was just a mass of trees. Overgrowth of landscaping shrubbery had made the courtyard a jungle of vines and leaves. 

A vine hanging down one of the partly-standing walls caught Charlotte's attention. She pointed it out to the others. Within minutes, they had climbed over the wall and were inside the castle. 

Overgrown trees and bushes created an impassible tangle. Going around to a room of some sort would be easier, and safer, than attempting to cross the courtyard. They (meaning Charlotte, Tyron, and David-Beth and Noble, the deer, had to wait outside) soon came to a doorway. This was at the base of the tower, so , other than a fallen rafter, cobwebs, and dust, the room was in pretty good shape. At first it was hard to tell what it was five-hundred years ago. 

But then it hit. Skulls of various animals and birds; jars on a shelf with labels like Moonstone Powder, Saffron, Strained Fish Oil, and other odd titles; a large, dusty book in the center of the room on a pedestal; all these things showed that this was a wizard's lab! 

Out of sheer curiosity, charlotte stepped up to the book and read. But what was this? There, at the top of the page, were the letters, "CJA," The same as on her dagger! Confused and not knowing what to expect, Charlotte read on. It was hard and some letters were completely smeared out.

CJA, 

RE D THE INSC IP ION

"What in the universe does 'Red the inscipion' mean?" said Tyron. 

"I think some of the letters have been smeared so they're missing," said Charlotte, "'Red' must be 'Read' and 'Inscipion' has to be 'Inscription.' Does it make sense any other way?" 

"Inscription on what?" asked David. 

"The dagger?" Charlotte looked at the hilt of the dagger. On one side, there were the letters. Below the unicorn on the other side, engraved letters read, "CJA, go upstairs." 

"This is getting really weird now. Who is CJA, anyway." 

"Hmm," said David, "Charlotte, what is your full name?" 

"Charlotte Jean Arnold, of course--hey, wait a minute! Those are my initials! CJA is me!"

Finally discovering what everything meant, Charlotte scanned the room for a staircase. Suddenly, the bookshelf containing the magic potions rattled, as if something were behind it. A jar fell to the ground and shattered. A blue liquid poured out of it. As if taking on life, the blob oozed to a wall and started climbing. After it was about two-thirds of Charlottes height, it stopped. It had spread out as if to make a doorway. And that was exactly what it intended. 

The blob turned to acid, and ate away at the wall. This revealed a staircase leading up around the outside of the tower. Charlotte went to the doorway, having to duck to get outside. The staircase was narrow and very steep. Within ten steps the fall could be fatal. As quickly as she could, Charlotte climbed the stairs to the second story. There was a rather small room here, and in the center on a platform was a sword. 

Charlotte daren't touch the powerful sword. The blade shone with blue light and the hilt had the letters CJA. Charlotte knew that it was now hers. 

She met her friends at the top of the tower. Charlotte was wearing the scabbard that she found under the platform, and in it, the magic sword. 

"It's up there, Charlotte," Tyron was pointing to an ancient flag. "If there was any wind today, it would be down here." 

"That's it!" exclaimed Charlotte, "This is the Amulet of Air!" 

She held the Amulet between her hands. Instantaneously, a strong west wind extended the old flag. The Amulet of Water fell into her hands. The flag revealed a golden orb with the letters CJA. 

"I could have sworn that flag had the dragon of Pheldarnia on it," replied David. 

The Amulet of Water was the kind that was fastened around the wrist. Charlotte removed her forgotten watch and put in on a turret by the staircase. She snapped the Amulet on her right wrist. She was about to get her watch when she discovered it was gone. 

"My watch!" shouted Charlotte. 

"Hold on, Charlotte, what is going on?" asked David. 

"That's what I'd like to know. Why is it that all of a sudden, I own a ruined castle?" asked a frustrated Charlotte. 

"We'll have to ask Gaia that one," answered David. 

"It looks like my brother took your watch," said Tyron. "Who else leaves muddy handprints than old Nimble." 

Tyron told them about Nimble being gold-crazy. That is, if he sees anything that even looks or smells like gold, he grabs it and runs off. Tyron also stated that following Nimble would be nearly impossible, because of his consistency to go through water or trees. But Charlotte thought differently. She explained that the watch was brand-new. Charlotte suggested that they at least should try to follow him, and she added that his muddy footprints were awfully obvious. 

They started down the spiral stairs, but they hadn't gotten very far before they encountered an army of Darven's guards. What they were doing here was uncertain. At first, Charlotte attempted unsuccessfully to fight them off with he sword. But she was untrained and not as strong. 

"The Amulet, Charlotte, use the Amulet!" said a voice in her ear. Tyron was beside her and David was in her hair. Using the Amulet of Air, Charlotte created a gust of wind that send the girl, the gnome, and the dwarf sailing in the Air.

* * *

**Part IV: Shazda and the Sailing**

Now they were flying beside the sea. The invisible carpet took them east along the rocky seaside. A challenging west wind slowed them down to near a stop when they noticed something out of the ordinary. A beautiful grey wolf was wandering along the tide pools. Wolves are not normally found by the ocean. 

Charlotte landed on a stone just yards from the creature. The girl who had acquired new braveness in Pheldarnia went right up to him. 

"Hi. What is your name, great wolf?" asked Charlotte. 

"I am Shazda. You are Charlotte." 

"Why is it that everyone here knows my name. Even the books know it!" 

"Listen, I know of your mission to retrieve the Amulets and save Gaia from the curse. Please follow me." 

Shazda led them to a small fishing village. For some reason, he told her to buy a raft. Charlotte had no money, but Tyron, being a dwarf and a miner, had a pouch of gold with him. He entered a boat store and bought a raft. He came out with a ticket, which, in this town, was like a receipt so that he could take the raft. 

At the dock, they found the raft number listed on the ticket. A seaman who was lazily sitting on the dock greeted them. 

"Really isn't good weather for sailing, if you ask me," he said, "The current is going the wrong way and so it the wind." 

"We have our ways," replied Charlotte as she and her friends boarded the small raft. Shazda managed to find a spot to lay down at the stern of the raft. Only one sail was to be seen on the mast. They all hoped that the raft would stay together. 

"Anchors away!" shouted Tyron, who had some experience as a sailor. 

"What anchor?" said Charlotte. Indeed, the raft had no anchor, but if it did, it would probably sink the boat. 

"That seaman was right," said Tyron, "This isn't good weather for sailing. We need wind and current." 

"What about the Amulets?" said Charlotte. 

"That's it, then. Use them Charlotte," cried David. 

A great gust of wind suddenly hit the sail. The tiny boat drifted away from the shore. Once out to sea, Charlotte used the Amulet of Water to create a suitable current to sail on. 

"It's late, Charlotte. We should sleep. It is many hours to Forbidden Island from here," said Shazda, "The isle has many unforeseen dangers that await you and strike when you least expect them to, but with the power of the Amulets, they will be easily shaken off." 

Charlotte hoped that was true. With those words, Charlotte drifted off to sleep.

The fierce dragon roared his loud and angry roar. Charlotte saw his vicious fangs set aflame by the very breath of Kassitara, the ever-living dragon. Charlotte hooked the clasp of the Amulet of Fire around her head. She was about to make a run for the exit when she found herself in a cage of the dragon's sharp claws. 

"Wake up Charlotte, the island is in sight." 

Shazda's soft voice echoed through her mind before she awoke. Day three of the voyage had begun, and they had no time to spare.

* * *

**Part V: Forbidden Island**

The island was a faint shimmer of grey on a foggy morning background. Some wind had picked up during the night, and was heading the little ship to the north side of the island. As the fog lifted, immense jungles and swamps could be seen. 

"Hey, Charlotte, why don't you just use the Amulet of Air to fly us there?" asked David. 

"For one thing, we need to be in the Air first. For another thing, I don't really feel safe about it," Charlotte explained. 

"I really don't feel safe about this thing. My shoes are soaked." 

"David! The boat is leaking!" shouted Charlotte. 

"Leaking?" said Tyron. "It's leaking! Abandon wreck--uh--ship!" 

Four frightened warriors leaped into the sea. David ducked inside Tyron's hat. The group swam to the island, it wasn't very far by now. 

They crawled ashore on a rocky beach. David was still complaining about his boots being soaked. When everyone started to dry off, Shazda shook herself dry. It was fine for him, but it completely soaked everyone else again. 

David wrung out his hat and said, "Now what?" 

"No idea," said Charlotte. The jungle looked impenetrable, and Tyron and Charlotte were still wet with cold salty water. David dried faster because he was smaller. 

"Surround them!" They heard a loud, and very unfriendly voice directing his men to capture the group. Shazda ran off into the woods, and David went invisible. The next thing Tyron and Charlotte knew, they were tied to posts and apparently dinner. 

"Would somebody mind telling me what's going on!?" Charlotte was overwhelmed. She was sick of all these unexpected thing just turning up. But Shazda did say that unexpected things would happen at unpredictable times. 

"Charlotte," David was speaking to her in her ear, "Make a gust of wind to blow the fire out," Charlotte nodded slightly. David managed to release her hands enough to activate the Amulet. 

Wind swirled around them in swift gusts. The dancing natives stopped to look. When the wind was settled down, one untied them. Just then, David reappeared and Shazda bounded in. 

The natives bowed low and said, "O Great One." 

"Like I said before, what's going on? One minute I'm dinner, the next minute I'm some 'O Great One.' Sheesh!" Charlotte was fed up. 

"Master of the Elements, Controller of Wild Beasts," One of the natives just carried on. 

"Hold on a minute. I do not control Shazda for your information, he's just my friend. And as for the elements, the Amulets give me that power." 

"Please accept this gift." 

Charlotte was about to refuse when she saw it. A gold clasp with a great emerald in the center. It was unmistakably the Amulet of Earth. Charlotte took it and gratefully thanked them as she hooked it around her wrist. 

"Come," spoke a native child softly amid the confusion. Charlotte, David, Tyron, and Shazda prowled away from the crowd of natives. 

The girl led them to a shack made of grass and twigs. There they sat on the soft mossy carpeting to await the girl to speak. 

"My name is Winter Star. Please tell me your names," spoke the girl. 

"At last some one who doesn't know me!" Charlotte said to herself, "My name is Charlotte. This--oh--little--ouch--despicable little--yeow--David get out of my hair this minute!" 

"Well--uh--anyhow, I'm Tyron and the wolf is Shazda." 

"Would somebody get this miserable little parasite out of my hair!?!?" Charlotte was trying to pry David's little fingers out of her hair. Well, you have to admit it was hilarious, even though Charlotte didn't think so at the time. 

David finally loosened his grip and dropped to the floor. 

"Just wait until I get my hands on him!" 

"Charlotte!" Shazda barked at her. "At least don't get him now, okay." 

Charlotte still muttered to herself while Tyron explained why Charlotte was here. He told Winter Star about the boat and that they had to get to shore somehow. Winter Star knew that this was a real problem, but she knew also that her village would build her a new boat if they had better soil for their crops to grow in. 

That would be an easy task for Charlotte with the aid of the Amulet of Earth. Outside, she saw three women trying to work a garden in poor soil. With the hand that had the Amulet of Earth of it, she touched the soil. Like water being poured, rich, dark soil seemed to melt out of her hand. When Charlotte lifted her hand, the once poor and infertile soil was changed to a richer, better, fertile soil. 

"Thank you ever so much. How can we ever repay you?" said a woman with long black hair. 

"Well, really..."

The natives' attempt at building a boat that day was completely unsuccessful. For one thing, they had no tool except hoes and shovels. For another, they didn't have the right kind of wood. Charlotte, Tyron, and David slept in Winter Star's hut. Shazda slept just outside the door. 

The mossy floor was good and soft to sleep on. Within minutes, Charlotte was fast asleep.

Charlotte tried to crawl through the claws, but she couldn't. She tried to use the Amulet of Earth to make a tunnel, but it was too small of a space. Kassitara had gotten her for sure, now. 

"Charlotte, wake up," Winter Star was above her. The others were already awake. Dreams, they were only strange dreams. Or were they?

Still today, the natives were trying to build a boat for them. Try as they might, they couldn't. It was almost midday when a creature was seen in the sky. At first it was thought to be a bird, but as it came closer it took shape to be a Pegasus, a winged horse. 

The pure white and silver Pegasus landed directly in front of them. Charlotte was amazed. Tyron went up to the being and got an gnome like David from atop his head. 

"Lanyr! What are you doing here?!" cried David. 

"Well, I knew you needed help, so I rode Snowflake here to bring you ashore. We had better get going though. We have only three days left to find the Amulet of Fire and get them to Gaia!" 

Charlotte, David, Tyron, and Lanyr mounted Snowflake and were about to fly off when a small voice said, "Take me with you!" 

It was Winter Star. 

Snowflake said in her quiet voice, "One more child would not hurt." 

And so Winter Star joined the expedition. Shazda, unfortunately, could not return to the mainland, yet did not mind staying at the island. Before they left, he gave them a message. 

"Fight fire with Fire, I always say." 

Snowflake took a short jump, and was airborne. Day four of the mission was underway!

* * *

**Part VI: Kassitara**

How astounded would you be if the very things you dreamt about turned out to be true? This very thing was about to happen to Charlotte, yet she had no idea it was about to happen. 

Snowflake soared over miles of sapphire sea. When the sea ended, she flew over green fields and emerald forests, small towns and mighty castles. If anyone wanted a bird's-eye view of Pheldarnia, this was it. 

"Where are we going?" asked Charlotte. 

"Snowflake knows the way," said Lanyr. 

"To where, though?" 

"You wouldn't know if I told you." 

"By any chance would it be the cavern of Kassitara?" inquired Charlotte. 

"How would you know!" said a surprised Lanyr. 

"Dreams. Or at least I hope they were dreams." 

"It's getting late," said Snowflake. "I think we should land and make camp somewhere." 

"I agree," said David, "Let's land, Snowflake." 

The Pegasus landed in a grassy meadow. After they dismounted, Charlotte (because she could reach up there) got the saddleblankets off Snowflake and set them out on the ground. At least Winter Star was used to this. Charlotte covered Snowflake with one of the blankets. By the time she went to bed, everyone else was asleep.

Charlotte managed to squeeze out of Kassitara's claws. She was about to escape when Kassitara's tail swung in front of the entrance. A flicker of flame escaped from the dragon's mouth. 

"Charlotte, wake up, wake up!" Tyron was shouting by now. Charlotte would not, could not wake up. 

"Kassitara! Kassitara!" Charlotte cried. 

"Charlotte, you're dreaming!" 

Charlotte suddenly shot out of her dream. 

"Well, let's get this over with," said Charlotte. 

Everyone mounted Snowflake. The Pegasus soared over the clouds but soon descended. She landed about fifty yards from the mouth of the cave. A puff of smoke rose from inside the cavern. 

"I'm going in," said Charlotte. 

"We're all in this together," said David. 

The brave group walked around the side of the cave. Charlotte was touching the cold stone. She peered around the stone wall to see a large, red- gold dragon sleeping in the back of the cave. David and Lanyr stood guard to tell he if the dragon awoke. Tyron stayed with Snowflake just outside the entrance for a getaway, even though dragons can fly. 

Charlotte and Winter Star entered the cavern, looking for the Amulet. They started toward a pile of treasure. 

"There it is," whispered Winter Star. 

Charlotte raced to the pile and clasped the chain around her head. On her way running to the pile, she dropped the glass jar. The clink of glass (it didn't break) against stone woke the dragon. 

David and Lanyr ran to Charlotte to warn her. The girls looked up to see a great dragon waking. They heard the fierce dragon let out his angry roar. 

I remember this. thought Charlotte. She ran for the entrance, and, just as see expected, the dragon made a cage of claws around her. 

"What would Shazda have done," said Charlotte to herself. "Ah! Fight fire with Fire!" 

Charlotte centered the power of the Amulet of Fire on a soft spot beside the dragon's claw. He lifted his foot and roared loudly. 

"I'm not afraid of you, Kassitara!" shouted Charlotte, "Winter Star, throw the glass jar into his mouth." 

The top had fallen off the jar, and Winter Star forgot about it. She grabbed the jar, and before Kassitara could close his mouth, she gave a mighty thrust, and the jar flew into his mouth. 

Kassitara tried to burn them to cinders, but he couldn't. In a few minutes, the jar fell out of his mouth, filled with fire. Before the flame could escape, Charlotte put the lid on it. 

"All right!" shouted Charlotte. "Gimme five, man." 

"Five what?" said Winter Star. 

"Never mind," Charlotte splashed Water into the dragon's mouth. He would never breath fire again. "Let's go." 

The group left and mounted Snowflake. Before they took off, Charlotte used the Amulet of Earth to cause a landslide over the cave entrance. 

"To Gaia!" shouted Charlotte. 

It took until sundown to get a quarter of the way there. They slept in a shady grove.

* * *

**Part VII: Gaia and the Conquering**

"Let's get out of here. Darven is lurking around," 

Lanyr had awaken Charlotte and the others, warning them. Quickly they mounted Snowflake and flew away. Snowflake saw below them a group of Darven's knight's, almost discovering them. 

It took hours to fly there. It was almost sunset when Snowflake landed. Day seven was almost over! 

"Come on, no time to lose!" Charlotte was determined by now. She raced into Gaia's cottage followed by Tyron, David, Lanyr, Winter Star, and Snowflake. Beth and Noble had just appeared from the woods and they were there too. 

"Don't you think it's a little crowded in here," said Tyron. Winter Star was carrying Kassitara's fire breath. 

"Gaia," said Charlotte. It was dark in here. She lit a lamp with the Amulet of Fire. 

"Gaia?" she repeated. 

"I'm fine, now, Charlotte," said Gaia. "What's in the jar?" 

"Oh, just Kassitara's fire," said Charlotte. 

"Well. You certainly did a lot to get the Amulets. I almost hate to tell you that you have to do more." 

"More?" 

"Well, what else would you do when Darven's whole army is about to attack?" 

"Darven?" Charlotte turned quickly to see a huge army about to attack. 

"Surrender at once!" said Darven. 

"Why don't you? I have the Amulets!" 

Darven seemed to withdraw a little. He was angry. 

"Gaia, do something," said Charlotte. 

"You have the Amulets!" 

"Oh, yeah." 

Darven's army was just about to attack when they found themselves in an underground cavern with no way out, just like the grungelings were. 

"Get a taste of your own medicine for imprisoning my friends. See how you like being underground for a few years or so," shouted Charlotte. 

"And now it's time to rebuild Old Pheldarnia!" said Gaia. 

"Oh! That's why my initials were on the flag!" 

"Right," said Gaia.

* * *

**Part VIII: Rebuilding**

With the aid of the Amulets and Gaia's recovered magic, they started to rebuild Old Pheldarnia. 

First, Charlotte used the Amulet of Fire to burn away all of the overgrown plants. Then she used the Amulets of Air and Earth to start building. Gaia's magic was used to create the flags with the new symbol of a golden orb with CJA. Soon the castle was as good as new. Charlotte handed the Amulets over to Gaia. They looked better on her anyway. 

"It's time to go home, Charlotte, Beth," said Gaia, "Goodbye, and I hope we'll meet again someday." 

Charlotte and Beth were sent directly back to the picnic clearing. From somewhere, she saw a ring float onto her finger. Charlotte heard Gaia's voice saying, "This will allow you to come back any time you want to," The ring, like the Amulets, was gold with a gem in it. This gem was an amethyst. 

Just then she heard a gunshot. Jeff Stanley appeared. 

"Where's that deer?" 

"I would like to tell you very clearly that I am not a deer," said Beth firmly. 

"Yikes! A talkin' horse! The boys down at Clearbrook won't believe this 'un." 

Jeff Stanley walked off, amazed. When he was out of earshot, both Charlotte and Beth doubled up with laughter. Everything was back to normal. What time was it? Charlotte glanced at her watch to discover that it wasn't there. 

"Nimble, I'm going to get you someday! Someday I'll be back!"


	2. Deep Trouble

**Part I: Returning**

Charlotte had decided not to tell her parents about Pheldarnia just yet. Besides, they wouldn't believe her anyway. It had been four months since her exciting visit to Pheldarnia. To explain why she wasn't back for a whole week and also why she lost her watch, she said that mean old Jeff Stanley scared off her horse, which he did, and also that she got lost in the woods, but eventually found her horse, Beth. Fortunately they had believed her. By now they'd forgotten all about it. Only they ring was proof that she had really been there. Charlotte thought of Gaia's magical words that the ring would allow her to come back to Pheldarnia to visit her new friends and check things out any time she wanted to, but she couldn't get herself to go back just yet. That all changed when a rather strange messenger came to her window one warm June night. 

Charlotte was asleep in her room near the back of the house. She was trying to ignore snoring from the next room, which her annoying brother, Jason, so charmingly gave to her. Just then, she heard a tapping from outside her slightly open window. 

"Charlotte, wake up," said a small voice from the windowsill. 

"David?" said an amazed Charlotte. 

"Yes, it's me," said the gnome. 

"What are you doing here, David?" 

"I bring news of something terrible in Pheldarnia," explained David, "After you left, Old Pheldarnia was completed and moved into. We've had many gallant knights and warriors. Gaia was rules the kingdom in peace. The Pegasus has become the country's emblem." 

"But what's going wrong?" asked Charlotte. 

"I hate to say it, but Darven escaped." 

"What!" shouted Charlotte. 

"We must hurry!" cried David. 

"Darven!" screamed Charlotte. 

"Use the ring!" shouted David. 

"What ring!?" 

"The magic tele-thingy ring, Charlotte!" 

"Oh, that ring!" 

With the aid of the magic ring, Charlotte teleported her and David back to Pheldarnia. And just in time, too, for her parents had just entered Charlotte's room to see their beloved daughter gone.

After an intense swirl of mist, Charlotte and David found themselves directly in front of the drawbridge at the familiar Old Pheldarnia. At least this was a more welcoming setting than last time. Autumn was just setting in here. 

"Welcome, Charlotte," said the guard who was on duty. Charlotte didn't recognize him, but that wasn't odd, for she hadn't stayed long enough last time to get to know any one in particular. "I'm Jorsec. Gaia is in her lab." 

David and Charlotte went to what used to be an ancient wizard's lab, now used by Gaia. Charlotte, although still a bit dazed by the teleportation, glimpsed that the new shrubs and trees were just starting to grow and that a new cobblestone pathway had been laid down. 

"Ah, Charlotte. It has seemed like a very long time. I know it was rather sudden, but this is urgent. I think David has told you some," Gaia looked worried. "Look into this magic mirror. You see why this is of the utmost importance." 

Charlotte looked. It was just above the place where she had imprisoned the army. This time, there was a large tunnel. Some men were helping other men escape. Darven stood apart from the others, talking to Alyxen. Charlotte could understand the words excellently. 

"Now Alyxen, we must get those enemies of ours. Gaia must be captured! Pheldarnia must be taken over again! We must kill Charlotte!" 

The men who had already escaped cheered, agreeing with Darven. 

Charlotte gulped. She saw them heading far toward the north to an dark empty castle on the high rocky cliffs above the ocean. The castle of Old Pheldarnia was between it and the place where she had met Shazda. 

"At least we shall know where they shall be," said Gaia. "Listen, Charlotte. I want you to go into there and find out what they are up to. You've done this before, remember when you were on the rafters in the conference room. I need you to do this again. Our very lives may depend on it." 

"I will. I would anyway," said Charlotte. 

"Along the way, there are three checkpoints. Tree-houses, underground houses, and such are checkpoints. To enter, making sure your on our side, use the password 'Xyzzy'" 

"Okay, Gaia," said Charlotte, "you can count on me." 

"I know I can," Gaia said confidently. But then she murmured under her breath, "I hope." 

* * *

**Part II: Travelling**

The location of the hole was all too near Old Pheldarnia. Within a few minutes, Charlotte was watching several more of Darven's guards climb out of the hole and start marching toward the empty castle. Quickly, Charlotte ran along the west side of the trail, making sure she was out of sight the whole time. 

Charlotte travelled this way for hours. Soon she was getting tired and hungry. The empty castle was much farther than it looked. The tired girl collapsed at the base of a tree. Suddenly, the ground gave way and she found herself in an underground room. A dwarf carrying a torch looked at her and said, "Password." 

"Password? Oh, uh, Xyzzy," said a tired Charlotte. 

"Enter." 

Charlotte managed to wake herself enough to follow the dwarf. He led her to an underground room that was lit by a candle and a hole in the roof that was like a staircase only dwarf sized. The small stairs led up to another tree. A lady dwarf was in the room brewing hot tea. A human sized bed lay in an alcove to Charlotte's right. 

"You must be Charlotte, right? Gaia said you would be here for tonight," the lady dwarf was saying, "I am Tyla and this is my husband, Hawk," 

Hawk muttered a few words of greeting but really wasn't too excited about meeting a human. 

"Hawk, be nice, she's on our side. By the way, lamb, this is Checkpoint One," said Tyla. "Oh, you must be starving. Here, have some tea while I fix us some dinner," 

"I am rather hungry," said Charlotte. 

"I know, Lamb. Hawk, where in Pheldarnia did you put those sweet potatoes?" 

"They were in the utility closet yesterday, Ty, where I always put them." 

"Well they're not there now. What about the turnips? And the carrots? At least tell me you know where the peas are!" 

"They were all here in the utility closet--Hey, Ty, what's that hole doing in our utility closet!" 

The dwarves looked out the hole. They saw three men eating their vegetables! 

"Boy, Jorsec, we're sure glad you came. Just in the nick of time, too. Here, have a carrot." 

"Yeah, Melkir, I really pulled that gag off, didn't I?" bragged Jorsec, "Darven ought to award me or something." 

"I'm glad me and Melkir got to help. After all, we're trained spies." 

"It's too bad we don't know where those checkpoints that CJA was supposed to stop at were," said Melkir. 

"It's a good thing we found this bunch of veggies some dwarves buried here!" said the third man. 

"Hey, Jorsec, don't you think you ought to be getting back, you know you have night duty tonight? Remember, you have to let us in to steal from the food supply?" said Melkir. 

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. I'll see you guys at midnight, okay?" said Jorsec. 

"All right, Jorsec, see you then! Good bye!" said Melkir. 

The dwarves gasped, then returned to the main room. 

Charlotte had heard everything. 

"We must warn Pheldarnia," she said, "I know Jorsec. I met him at the drawbridge today. It is apparent now that he knows everything. I'm glad these checkpoints are hidden." 

"Syber can move faster than a horse. If I go now, I can reach the castle by seven. At the speed Jorsec is going, it'll take him until eight," explained Hawk. Then he climbed up a ladder. From outside, they heard him whistle. A great Pheldarnian tiger bounded forward like a puppy dog. 

"That's a good Syber. Let's go now," And with that, he was off.

"Boy, Tyla, this is good broth. Though almost anything is good when you're hungry enough. By the way, whatever happened to David?" said the girl. 

"He's going to meet you at Checkpoint Three. Charlotte Jean Arnold. CJA. Why was it that West Delilah Oak has those initials on it," replied Tyla. 

"West Delilah Oak?" asked Charlotte. 

"Yes. West Delilah is a the name of the village that is where Checkpoint Two is located. The oak in the center of it was left standing only because of two things. One: it was to big to cut down. Two: it had, in large, clear block letters, CJA. That came to my mind the moment I heard of you. CJA, CJA. It doesn't make sense." 

"That's what confused me when those letters were on the dagger, the flag, the sword and the book. Either it's me, or some one else," said Charlotte. 

"Well, either way it turns out, you have to get to Checkpoint Two tomorrow so you should get some rest," requested Tyla.

The next day, Charlotte left for the next checkpoint. It was only a short walk to the village of West Delilah. The oak was nearly as big as the town itself. The letters, still clear as can be, were indeed there. Gold, red, and rust leaves covered the tree. 

"Come on in, Charlotte. Don't worry. Xyzzy. We are on Pheldarnia's side," said a man at a hotel. 

Charlotte entered the hotel. Actually, there were only three rooms. One for her, one for the owner, and one for an old man. Charlotte went into her room, followed by the old man. 

"Good day, Charlotte. I guess you won't be staying here long. Checkpoint Three can be reached by nightfall if you leave at nine," he said. 

"Why are my initials on the tree?" asked Charlotte. 

"Oh? CJA? Those are the initials of the founder of Pheldarnia, Christopher John Alexander. This was a good lad, he had come from the place you came from yourself. He had achieved high goals and was for a long time the ruler of Pheldarnia. But Darven was and still is greedy for power and wealth. I was younger then, and was a good friend of Christopher. I left my book open to a blank page, then wrote on it, CJA, READ THE INSCRIPTION. The inscription was on the panel under the book and Christopher knew this. Yet Darven got to him too soon. The castle was in ruins before he could be saved. We still don't know if he is alive today. 

The original flag of Pheldarnia was a golden orb inscribed with his initials. At first Darven ruled in the old castle, with his new flag, but when he moved to the new one, he took his new flag and then flew the old one. In a hidden place, I put Christopher's sword and placed the Amulet of Water atop the pole, which you recovered." 

"Oh! Now I understand!" said Charlotte, "But what about the dagger. The inscription on it said CJA, GO UPSTAIRS. How does that tie in?" 

"I must have been for entirely different purposes for you. For Christopher, when he was captive, I had hold of the dagger. I inscribed that message for him. I had placed it in the ruin of Phantavania on the rocks up there in a tower. He always examined things. At the time, the only way out was up." 

"I don't get it. Weren't they in New Pheldarnia?" 

"Yes, but their dungeon was at the ruin. It was newer than Old Pheldarnia, yet older than New Pheldarnia. Get it?" 

"Clear as mud." 

"Doesn't matter." 

"But that was five hundred years ago. If you were there, well, you do look really old, but Darven. How could it be possible?" 

"Time is different here. In your time, Darven is twenty-eight. Christopher would be twenty-seven. Then, I was fifty-six. Now I'm seventy-one. Now do you get it?" 

"Sort of. Yeah. I had better get going." 

Outside, not much was going on. Charlotte was just leaving when a great Pheldarnian tiger bounded up. Hawk was on his back. 

"Jorsec really got it, Charlotte," said Hawk, "At first they didn't believe me, but I told them to wait until midnight. Melkir, Jorsec, and Rilo are presently in the dungeon at Old Pheldarnia." 

"Great job, Hawk. Bye!" said Charlotte. 

"So long, Kid!" 

* * *

**Part III: The Phantavanian Castle and Darven**

Charlotte walked all day. She had a lot of time to think. 

_I'm sure glad that this time I don't have to hurry. Last time I was here, I had to get the Amulets to Gaia within one week or she would die. I am certainly glad that I got to come back. We never had castles or dragons at home. I wish I could make Pheldarnia my home. I love it here._

_I wonder what ever happened to Winter Star. She saved my life back at the cave of Kassitara. Maybe she went back to Forbidden Island. I wonder why it's still called 'Forbidden.'_

"Yark! Yark!" 

Charlotte looked up. To her surprise she saw a large black bird with a wingspan of over ten feet. It must be a roc. 

"Who are you?" cried Charlotte. 

"I am Blackwing. I must take you to Darven," he yarked. 

"I can get there myself if you don't mind." 

The roc wasn't very smart, so he just looked puzzled and flew off. 

"Well, I'm glad that's over with." 

Later that afternoon, Charlotte could see the forest coming up again. A lot of them were gold, red, rust, or brown. With the enormous variety of trees, this was better than autumn in New England. It wasn't like Earth trees, either. Some of the trees were the same, yet some were a lot different. For example, there were oaks, but alongside them were tall trees like redwoods, only with bark that had snowy white patches like a birch. 

Near nightfall, Charlotte was exhausted. She had thought that she would make it to Checkpoint Three. She collapsed in a cluster of bushes. But strangely, a gnome came up to her and said: 

"Password?" 

She yawned. "Xyzzy." 

"Come on." 

Once inside the underground house, she fell asleep.

The next morning, she was awakened by her empty stomach. 

"Charlotte, here, have an egg." 

It was David. By a large effort, he was handing her a hard-boiled egg that was nearly as big as himself. Charlotte ate the egg and stood up. She bumped her head on the ceiling. 

"Careful, Charlotte, this was the biggest place we could get," said the gnome. 

"By the way, this is Archel. He is joining us also. Don't be surprised if he is a little strange, he was all we could get on such short notice." 

"David!" shouted Archel. That voice was pretty loud for such a small creature. 

Charlotte laughed. Then she said, "We had better get going. I'm glad we got Jorsec out of the way." 

"Jorsec?" asked David. 

"He was a traitor," explained Charlotte. Then she put Archel on one shoulder and David on the other. With that, they left.

The castle loomed over the countryside with never-before seen terror. Darven had repaired it to almost mint condition. His own flag, the dragon, flew high over the turrets. Two guards stood-or rather slept-on either side of the portcullis. One of them had almost fallen into the murky moat. Without being noticed, Charlotte entered the castle. Just then, she saw some guards. She ducked, but they hadn't noticed her. They were walking toward a staircase that lead to a large room. Charlotte waited until they had entered before going in herself. 

The men had turned into a conference room through a doorway at the right side of a landing. Charlotte continued upwards. This lead to a large-small tower room that they had forgotten to repair. A part of the dusty circular wall and floor was still open. Charlotte slipped through this onto the rafters of the conference room. Once again, she was directly above the Evil Prince, Darven. 

"Now, men, here's my plan," explained Darven, "You three will sneak in and free Jorsec, Melkir, and Rilo. Squadron A will attack the castle from the ocean side, where the hills make it so they can't see you until too late. Squadron B will come around the forest side of the castle. Squadron C will come will me to the direct front. And-" 

Just then part of the rafter broke off, sending Charlotte directly between Darven and the guards, on the front part of the stage. 

"Get her!" shouted Darven. 

The crowd rushed toward her. She fainted.

When Charlotte awoke, she looked around. It was very cold and dark. She sneezed. (if you don't know what that means, you didn't read The Amulets.) She tried to stretch, but her hands her tied above her, and her feet below her. 

"David, where are we?" she asked. 

"Deep trouble." 

* * *

**Part IV: Deep Trouble**

David and Archel had just untied Charlotte. There was no way to find a way out in this darkness. What were they going to do! 

Just then, a light appeared from around a corner. A young man with a torch came up to them. 

"So they put you in here, too, didn't they, Mates?" he said. 

"W-who are y-you?" said a shaking Charlotte. 

"Me? My name is Christopher John Alexander, and proud of it, Mate. What's your's?" 

"Uh-oh, yeah, I'm Charlotte Jean Arnold and the gnome is Archel and the gnome is-invisible again. A-shoo!" 

"Don't sneeze so hard!" shouted David. 

"The old man told me all about you," said Charlotte, "And for quite a long time, I thought you were me-I mean the initials, CJA. But after all, they are the same." 

"I can see that, Charlotte Jean Arnold, Christopher John Alexander. Well, Mates! Why are we standin' around here blabbin' our mouths off! We have to get out of here!" 

"How?" asked Charlotte. 

"Down!" cried Christopher. 

"This is bedrock, Christopher. We can't go down any further," said David. 

"Wait, David, come here," said Archel. 

The two little men were now loosening some dirt at the floor. 

"Lets help them," said Charlotte. 

After only digging through a few inches of dirt, they revealed a tunnel. On all sides of it was solid bedrock. 

"Well lookie there, Mates. If I'd a' known this was here, I wouldn't a' spent countless years eating roots and bones!" 

The four dropped into the tunnel. Guided only by the cold stone walls and Christopher's torch, they ventured through the darkness. Every so often, the darkness was broken by a thin stream of daylight from the ceiling far above. As they moved on, the light became larger and more frequent. By the time the torch went out, there were hundreds upon thousands of cracks in the walls, of which some were getting big enough to climb out through. When they came to one that was large enough and slanted so they could climb, they left. 

The day was almost over. The sun was setting. Christopher dropped the torch down the tunnel. Just then, all the holes disappeared. 

"Magic," someone said. (afterwards, Charlotte and Christopher debated over which one of them had said it, although no one at the time was paying any attention to that.) 

Six men, one of them was Jorsec, were running at top speed to Phantavania. 

"They were successful," said Charlotte. 

"What ever happened to my sword, Mate?" asked Christopher. 

"Darven has it," 

"Mates, we have to get it! I need it!" shouted Christopher, as if it were urgent. 

They reentered the castle. 

"But wait! We have to warn Pheldarnia of Darven!" said Charlotte. 

"Okay, then, Mate," he went with her to the gate, which was now unguarded because they were readying themselves for the attack, and they both stopped there. Snowflake was coming down from the sky. Charlotte mounted. Before Christopher could mount, Snowflake was taking off. 

"Christopher!" called Charlotte. 

"Go on without me, Charlotte! I have to find the sword!" 

* * *

**Part VI: Red Alert!**

Snowflake flew as fast as her wings could carry her, Charlotte, David and Archel. They were ahead of Darven, but not by much. With a swift gust of wing, Snowflake landed in the courtyard, then, after Charlotte had dismounted, took off. 

"Why are you going?" said Charlotte. 

"To get Christopher," and she was off. 

At the moment of Charlotte's warning, the portcullis was lowered into place and the drawbridge was raised. Men with bows ready stood at their stations along the castle walls. Nobody figured out if it were accident or purposeful, but Gaia's piranhas were dumped into the moat. 

Darven's mighty army was surrounding the entire castle. They were, almost instantaneously blocked by the deep, wide moat. Several men swung grabbling hooks at the walls. One of them hooked near Charlotte. Sir Alyxen started climbing. 

"David, I've had enough of this pest," she said. 

"Cut the rope," suggested David. 

"Oh, yeah," Charlotte drew Christopher's dagger, the one with CJA on it. "Good-bye, Alyxen!" 

"Huh?" said Alyxen. SPLASH! "YEOW!" 

"I think those piranas came in handy," said Charlotte. 

A piranha filled moat was just about enough to keep any army out. Only a few had managed to get in over the outer walls, and they were very easily held back. Just then, Charlotte looked down in horror from slightly above the drawbridge. A few men on a raft were sailing over, then hacking away at the drawbridge with axes. Within mintues, the chains fell useless. Then, the men climbed up to the top of the portcullis, where arrows couldn't reach. Somehow, one of the younger ones had slipped through an open crack and was now trying to dissever the heavy iron grating from the walls. Unfortunately for Pheldarnia, he succeeded. 

Several of them had placed a large peice of wood to act as a bridge just before they started streaming in like a swarm of hornets. Pheldarnia held them off for a few minutes, but not long. It didn't look at all good for Pheldarnia, that is until . . . 

"I'm back, Mates!" shouted Christopher from the back of Snowflake. 

"Christopher!" shouted nearly everyone there. And that was pretty loud. Instantly, part of Darven's army jumped into the moat, part of them ran away, and the rest surrendered. 

* * *

**Part VII: Good-byes are hard**

The next day, everyone that they could find on Darven's side was put on a ship with black sails called the Black Dragon. Hopefully, they would never see Darven again. On the deck, Darven was really mad. That is, you would suppose he was if he were cursing and jumping up and down. 

"Bon voyage, Darvie!" called Charlotte.

It was night. Charlotte was to go home the next day. She and Christopher were at the top of the highest tower in Old Pheldarnia, facing the ocean that Darven had sailed away on. 

"You know, Christopher, I really don't understand magic," replied Charlotte. 

"I really don't myself, Mate." 

"Well, why did those holes close when we came out? I know it was magic and I said so," said Charlotte firmly. 

"No, no, no. Remember, I told you that it was magic, you haven't been here long enough to know it when you see it, Mate," confirmed Christopher. 

"What else would it be if it weren't magic? A bunch of holes closing at the same time?" said Charlotte. 

"I've been here for much longer than you have." 

"I told you, and David can tell you." 

"Don't get me into this," cried the now visable David. "Besides, I wasn't paying any attention myself. So just drop it!" 

"Whatever, Little Mate." 

"By the way, why did all those men react when you came?" asked Charlotte. 

"That I understand. You see, Mate, the sword and me, we're like a fish and water. I'd be the water and the sword would be the fish. The fish out of water is just a meal, like the sword is ordinary without me. But when you put the fish back in the water, Mate, there you find what it really is! The sword has extremly powerful magic abilities when it's with me." 

"Like a fish and water," whispered Charlotte. 

Dawn was breaking. Charlotte stood. 

"I'm afraid that I must go home now, Christopher," explained Charlotte. 

"Well, be back soon, Mate," said Christopher. 

"I'll try to be," said Charlotte. 

For a long time, they stood there, silent, just looking at each other. Then, Charlotte closed her eyes and used the amethyst ring to take her home, once again, only this time good-byes were harder.


	3. Flame of the Dragon

At last it was time to explain about Pheldarnia. Charlotte knew it would be difficult, yet it seemed that she had no other choice. Her parents had been angry and confused on the night of her sudden disappearance. So she explained Pheldarnia. At first, they sent her to her room, saying she was too big to play Let's Pretend. The next time she tried to tell them, she had a cold and she sneezed, making David appear. The annoying gnome certainly was a help, even though her mother screamed and fainted. Her father examined the poor gnome closely. Finally, David had enough and teleported himself back to Pheldarnia. Charlotte also showed them the ring, which they had never noticed before. It was pure gold, yet not a real amethyst. Instead it was a transparent crystal that was more complex than she had thought. It was able to sense thought waves and, when it heard a certain frequency, could teleport the wearer anywhere. Charlotte had said that this was way out of her ballpark.

It was probably mid-winter now in Pheldarnia. Charlotte was getting really anxious to return. It was getting harder and harder to concentrate on her schoolwork. During her free time, she found herself daydreaming about David and Gaia and all of her other friends back in Pheldarnia. She found herself wishing she was there again, but then suddenly, she was. 

Supposedly, it was the ring that had taken her back. It was extremely cold, and there were two inches of ice of the ground, followed by two feet of snow and it was snowing. Charlotte hadn't been prepared for cold weather and she was only wearing her schoolclothes. She shivered. 

"How did I get here? And where is here, for that matter? Well, anywhere this turns out to be, I'd better find something warm and quick or I'll be cool as a cucumber or maybe moreso!" 

Charlotte started to walk across the frozen landscape. Soon, she seemed to come to a place of hills. No! They weren't hills, they were rooftops! She had come to a small town, frozen by the ice topping the roofs. Somehow, she managed to get to the door of one of them. She did this by jumping, then crashing through the ice. 

Knocking would be useless, because there was so much ice. Opening it was useless, for it was frosen shut. Half-frozen, she rapped the brass knocker hard. From inside, someone tried in vain to open the door. Again and again they tried, and Charlotte pulled from the outside. Knee-deep in snow and ice, the girl strained to open it. Just then, with a jarring lunge, the door jolted open, sending Charlotte into the snow. 

Vision blurred by ice, Charlotte stared into the now open doorway. In it stood the blur of a young girl, perhaps only ten, with black hair halfway down her back. Charlotte stood and walked in, the girl silent. The child was apparently happy to see her, as if they knew each other. Charlotte stared for a moment then shouted: 

"Winter Star!" 

The child nodded furiously, smiling broadly. 

"How long has it been, Winter Star?" 

The girl shook her head and shrugged. 

"What's happened, can't you talk?" 

Winter Star shook her head. 

"Who's done this to you? And why?" asked Charlotte. 

The child waved her fingers in front of her and move her mouth repeatedly as if she were chanting. Then she put and evil look on her face. 

"A wizard? An evil wizard?" guessed Charlotte. 

Winter Star nodded furiously. 

"Who?" 

The girl grabbed a leaf of paper and a quill, and, dipping the pen very often, wrote the letters: 

Tericolle 

"Tericolle?" asked Charlotte. 

Winter Star nodded slowly with a depressed look on her face. 

"We must get Gaia! Now! Only she can tell what to do." 

The child said nothing for a moment, then nodded slowly. Since there was nothing of value in the building, they took nothing, that is except warm clothes.

Winter Star knew the way to the castle of Old Pheldarnia. Even without her ability to speak, she knew how to fare well in harsh conditions. Old Pheldarnia wasn't far by an easy paced walk, so, Charlotte judged, considering their hard pace along with the icy conditions, they would reach the castle in an hour. 

Heads down, they grudged along. The forest was to their right, the River Fortyne flowed frozen to their left. Just then, they heard a scruffle from the forest. Winter Star may not be able to speak, yet she wasn't short of hearing. They waited a moment, then traveled on. Then, Charlotte looked up to see a deer with six points gallop out of the wood. More surefooted than humans, he had no trouble with the ice. It had stopped snowing. 

Just then, it hit her. "Noble!" cried Charlotte. Winter Star looked up in surprise. "How'd you get here, Noble? Where's Tyron?" 

The wind started blowing coldly from the sea. Noble spoke, "I do not know, dear ladies. I think that Tericolle has him. If so, and even if not, there is no time to spare." 

"Noble, we have to get to Old Pheldarnia first. I must let Gaia know that I'm here." 

Just then, Winter Star was tugging at her, frightened. Charlotte turned to her frightened face. The child made gestures, and pointed to the sky, where a dark figure flew in the direction of Old Pheldarnia. Noble and Charlotte stared in fear. It was Kassitara. 

* * *

**Part II: The Flame of Kassitara**

"It looks like we had better warn them. A dragon is menace even without his flame, and this one knows where to find it," said Charlotte. They ran as fast as the weather permitted to Pheldarnia. The dragon was flying quickly. Both of then, Kassitara moreso, were troubled with the cold north wind. 

They were too late. 

Charlotte sunk into a crater in the snow. The edges of it dripped warm. The ground was slightly scorched, and a little warm. "Kassitara was here," said Charlotte. They saw a dark figure in the sky far to the north and east. 

"Dragons sure fly fast," said Noble.

At Old Pheldarnia, all was silent. The east tower, unfortunatly, was fallen. On the ground in the snow lay an empty glass jar. Winter Star and Charlotte sighed. It seemed like long ago when Winter Star saved Charlotte's life in the dragon's cavern. Now the once-famous jar was worthless. 

They entered by walking across the frozen moat, for the drawbridge had been burnt. The new shrubbery and trees, though once ice, were now charcoal. The remains of the castle was a place of total devestation. After building it from ruins, it was once again ruins. 

Gaia, too, seemed depressed by this. 

"But Gaia, Kassitara couldn't had gotten out unless--" began Charlotte. 

"Magic," finished Gaia. 

"But--who? Who would let a menace out of its cage?" 

"I don't know, Charlotte," sighed Gaia. "I just don't know."

They agreed that Charlotte and Winter Star would stay in Old Pheldarnia for that night. Chasing Kassitara would be hopeless and useless, for the dragon could fly faster and they had not even the faintest idea of where he went. That morning, however, they started out. It had snowed half an inch of snow that night. Before the two left, Gaia gave them thick cloaks and snowshoes, which would both be very useful. 

"Where do we head first, Winter Star?" Charlotte asked. 

Winter Star pointed east and north, more east. Charlotte nodded, and they were on their way. 

They had been waking for some time before something interesting happened. Charlotte was hit by a snowball. 

"What is going on?!" cried Charlotte. 

She turned, seeing her brother, Jason, laughing in the snow. It had started snowing again, and this time hard. 

"Jason!" called Charlotte in surprise, not anger. "How in Pheldarnia did you get here?" 

"I don't know, myself, Charlotte. That's the last time I trust a dwarf." 

"Which dwarf?" asked Charlotte. 

"I don't know. Tyrone or Tyrona or something like that," answered her brother. 

"Tyron! Where is he now?" 

"That's it. After he brought me here, I saw this huge green lizard-bird come and swoop him away," With this, he made gestures like a bird. 

"Kassitara," whispered Charlotte. "Jason, that was Kassitara the eternal dragon that you saw!" 

Winter Star quivered and made the getures that she had used for Tericolle, then moved her arms like a bird. 

"You mean that the dragon and Tericolle could be connected somehow?" asked Charlotte. 

Winter Star nodded furiously. 

"Boy, Winter Star. If what you think is true, then we could be in much deeper trouble than ever before!" 

* * *

**Part III: The Dwarf Mine**

After Jason had joined the expedition, they continued north and east, still bearing east. Jason had no snowshoes, but they were no longer needed. The ice was thawing. Water sloshed below their feet as the travelers walked through the slush. Still cold, yet melting. Thaws seemed the worst part of winter. 

It was raining. Icy water fell on the travelers. They tried to use their cloaks to keep dry, but they also needed them to keep warm. As a result, no one was dry or warm. 

Everything was soaked. The dragon figure had disappeared from the sky. The rain kept pouring down violently. 

The Elandran Mountains loomed near to the east of them. Once they saw a cavern in the walls, they took shelter. This was at least dry, and a bit warmer. A lot of the snow had melted by now. 

From down a tunnel, they saw a torch light appear. Then, Hawk the dwarf entered the room. 

"What are you kids doing in this mine?" demanded the dwarf. 

"Trying to keep dry, Hawk," replied Charlotte, wringing out her cloak. 

Two more dwarves came out of the cavern, one carrying a torch, the other, a pick. They stopped to look at the humans and Hawk. 

"Jenner, get some wood," commanded Hawk, "Link, you get some food," 

The other two dwarves nodded, then ran off, getting in each other's way. The one with the pick, Jenner, soon came with the wood. Link brought the food. 

Charlotte glanced outside the cavern entrace. The rain had stopped and white crocus blossoms shown out of the ground. All of the snow was gone. Spring had come! 

* * *

**Part IV: Blossom**

After drying off, they said farewell and left the cavern. Jason jumped in every puddle, and as a result, they were wet again. At least this time the sun dried them. 

They were entering a meadow full of spring flowers in bloom that was in a valley in the Elandran Mountains. A small herd of twelve ponies was grazing here, in all different colors, each with symbols on their hindquarters. A lavender one came up to them and said: 

"I am Blossom. Welcome to Pony Valley. Greetings," she said. 

"Uh--greetings. I'm Charlotte Jean Arnold, this is Winter Star, and the brat is Jason, my brother," confirmed Charlotte. 

"Greatest welcomes to the greatest hero. Ow!" neighed Blossom as she put weight on one of her forelegs. 

"What's wrong, Blossom?" inquired Charlotte. 

"Kassitara, that's what's wrong. The north half of this valley is completely charcoal. It was Kassitara's doing. Something must be done, and soon!" cried Blossom. 

"We were going north and east, more east, to seek the dragon. We defeated him once, we can do it again," Charlotte was saying 'we' because neither Charlotte nor Winter Star could have done it alone. 

"Then I will grant you transportation. Gusty, would you join them?" spoke the purple pony. 

"I shall, Blossom," answered a white unicorn with a green mane and tail. 

"Then you should go now. Rumor from unicorns in other parts of the Elandrans say that they have seen the dragon flying around the ruin of Phantavania. I don't like that place, but I think it's connected to that dragon," departed Blossom. 

Riding the surefooted Gusty through the mountains, the three travelers set off, once again, to put an end to destruction caused by Kassitara, the ever-living dragon. 

* * *

**Part V: The Village**

The cool mountain air was the kind that was more ralaxing and enjoyable than the icey chill of mid-winter. Gusty, even with three riders, was one of the most surefooted creatures that Charlotte had ever seen. In an hour and a half, they left the mountains, now heading more north than before. They were entering a small village. 

Villagers stopped their work to look in wonder at the unicorn and her passengers. Children who had been playing stopped to wave and greet them. Shopkeepers smiled at the travelers. Women ceased folding clothes just to wave. Everyone was glad to see them. 

Charlotte soon found out why. They knew why she was there, and needed help desparately. Chapter of the village was blackened by the flame of the dragon. 

"What will we do about our town, Charlotte?" asked one man. 

"First off, you should clear away the damaged and salvage whatever possible for firewood. Second, you should rebuild," suggested Charlotte. 

"The first part can be easily done, but we haven't tools nor trees for lumber," said another man. 

Charlotte looked around. No, not a single tree could be seen on the vast sea of a prairie. Then she had an idea. 

"You could build the houses out of stone," said Charlotte. 

"Yes, but how about the roofs?" said a third man. 

"Lumber has to be found somewhere. Was there any wood left unburnt?" asked Charlotte. 

"Yes. We would have to rebuild four houses, yet we have only twenty four roof pieces and four poles. What do we do?" asked the first man. 

"Use the roof pieces for the triangle part of the frame, and use the poles for the peak. As for the top, there is plenty of straw and grass for that," confirmed the girl. 

"Thank you, Charlotte. We needed that," said the second man. 

* * *

**Part VI: The Waterfall**

Charlotte and her companions had had lunch in the village and gotten food to supply their dinner. The villagers had said that this didn't even half repay them for telling them what to do. 

Once out of the village, Charlotte decided to ease Gusty a little by getting off and walking beside her. Two ten-year-olds weren't going to slow them down, but Charlotte confirmed that she could easily keep up and didn't mind walking. 

Gusty was getting thirsty and so were the humans. They suggested that they should find water. 

"Well, Gusty, you have had more experiance than I or Jason, so why don't you lead the way," said Charlotte. 

"Yes, Charlotte. Look. There's a stream. It's much too small to get water from, but if we travel along it, we're bound to come to its source," explained Gusty. 

They traveled along upstream. Just as Gusty had predicted, there was a magestic waterfall plunging into a beautiful pond. At least fifty robins scattered as soon as they were near enough. The children dismounted and drank from the pond. Gusty also enjoyed the refreshing taste of spring finally come. 

Just then, a large piece of wood, slightly burnt, came plunging into the lake from the waterfall. 

"Get that wood out of here!" said Charlotte. 

"Wait! There's a note attached to it," said Jason. 

"Let me see that," said Charlotte. The letter read:

To Charlotte. Urgent. I have found that a wizard who calls himself Tericolle has let Kassitara the dragon escape. Tericolle, right now, has all control over the dragon. If and when you get this message, hurry to get to Phantavania, that's where Tericolle is. David.

"So it's true. You were right, Winter Star," sighed Charlotte, "Tericolle does control Kassitara." 

Instantly, they mounted Gusty and started northward for the ruin at once. 

* * *

**Part VII: Encounter**

Once again, Charlotte walked and the children rode. But soon, this could turn bad. 

Out of the sky, there was a black figure. As it came closer, they saw that it was the dragon. Instinctively, Gusty ran for her life into the Elandrans. Charlotte was left there underneath the dragon. A flicker of flame shown in his eyes as the dragon landed. 

"So you were the one who stole my flame and imprisoned me," hissed the dragon. With sharp claws, he picked the girl up and carried her away.

When the dragon finally landed, it was night and they were inside the courtyard of Phantavania. There was Tericolle. He had a strange amulet around his neck. 

"I see you have brought another one, Kassitara," said Tericolle. "Put her in the dungeon." 

"I've already been there, Tericolle!" shouted Charlotte, trying to squeeze out of the dragon's claws. "And for your information, I am Charlotte Jean Arnold!" 

"I don't care who you are because I have never heard of you. Kassitara, take her away, she bothers me."

"Now what do I do?" said Charlotte to herself. 

"Help get us out of here!" said a voice in the next cell. 

"Tyron! David! How did you get here?" 

"Same way you did. Here, take the keys, I can't get up to the locks," said David. 

Charlotte grabbed the keys and unlocked her cell and Tyron's. 

"Now what?" said Charlotte. "I haven't a clue on what to do." 

"Destroy Tericolle's amulet. It's the source of his power. Kassitara will still be under his control, but his magic will be gone," said Tyron. 

"Here," said Charlotte, handing Tyron the keys, "You free the others, I'll destroy the amulet." 

* * *

**Part VIII: Tericolle's Amulet**

Charlotte left he dungeon and into the courtyard. Kassitara was sleeping in the north half. Quietly, Charlotte snuck into the wizard's chamber. He wasn't there at the time, and neither was the amulet. Just then, the door opened behind her, and in it stood Tericolle. Charlotte turned to face the wizard. The amulet shaped like a crescent moon hung from his neck. 

"A child in my quarters," hissed the wizard. "You!" he pointed to Charlotte. 

It's now or never. thought the girl, I have to do this. Gathering up her corage, she leaped on the wizard, pulling the amulet away. He's powerless now, but I have to destroy it. Quickly, Charlotte threw the crescent on the stone floor with all her might. The moon shattered. 

Tericolle ran into the courtyard. It was dawn by now. Charlotte ran after him. Gusty had come and the two children raced toward her. The wizard climbed atop the back of Kassitara. Then the dragon took off. 

"I'll be back, Charlotte Jean Arnold! Mark my words, I'll be back!" shouted the wizard as he flew over the Elandrans to the east. 

"Charlotte, let's go home," said the child voice of Winter Star. 

Charlotte smiled. With David on her shoulder, the humans mounted the unicorn Gusty and rode back to the castle of Old Pheldarnia.


End file.
